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REAL MADRID 1 MANCHESTER UNITED 1

22.08 Right, Graeme Souness is losing patience with Jamie Redknapp and so am I, so let's wrap this liveblog up. That was that rare thing, a gigantically hyped match which did not disappoint. It wasn't a gigantic classic, but there was a pleasing sense of quality throughout, especially when United tightened up in the second half and forced Real to attempt to unlock them. They couldn't quite do it this evening but there was enough to suggest that they might be able to at Old Trafford in three week's time. Well done to De Gea, who excelled, Rafael, who got his head together after a concerning first half, and Jonny Evans, who might just be on his way to becoming the much-vaunted real deal. (Re-al, not Rey-al, Spanish readers). See you for the second leg? I hope so. Depends on the rota, really. Still, thanks for your company tonight and I'll talk to you again soon.

22.04 Here's The Arpprentice star Sir Alex Ferguson:

David De Gea's had three or four terrific saves, but we've missed three or four great chances ourselves. There were a lot of incidents that made it a really interesting game. The disappointing part for me was we sat back off them too much. It's not healthy, that, it's not good to watch. And it's not like us in many ways. But we made a change in the second half and left Danny Welbeck up in the middle to sit on Alonso and that changed things. What a header from Ronaldo, unbelievable. You can't stop that. I said to Patrice at half-time "Patrice, did you not want to challenge for that?" but then I saw the video and thought "what was I talking about?". When Ronaldo gets the ball, you're praying, more than anything.

22.03 Amazing picture of David De Gea, who was gigantic this evening:

21.57 Xabi Alonso and his magnificent beard are talking:

It's not bad at all. We're looking forward to the second leg, it will be really open. They were very compact, sat very deep. That's not news, we knew they would do that away from home. But it will be entirely different at Old Trafford. We can't think about going there for a draw, we need to score goals. It's not about the performance tonight, it's about the result.

21.51 Danny Welbeck and Robin van Persie are talking to Sky now. Neither of them are saying anything exciting. They're both praising the game and the stadium as if contracturally obliged to. "It's half time now," says Robin van Persie. You can tick that one off from cliché bingo.

21.43 Here's an animated but entirely resonable Jose Mourinho:

Not a surprise of a match, not a surprise of a result. Everything is open, very open for the second leg. I think it will go to the last minute. It was tactical for them, not so much for us. They played very deep in the second half, I don't think Rio and Evans put a foot in our half during the second half. We had to chase the game but they did well, they defended well. If you asked me about percentages, it has not changed, it's still 50:50. The away goal does not give them an advantage, we can score more than one goal there.

21.36 Some low-level controversy at the end. Van Persie had a chance to win it with a volley from the left-hand side of the box. Lopez turned it round his post for a corner, but the ref blew up before it could be taken. That's it! United go home for a second leg on terms and with an away goal that's roughly as precious to them as the shiny ring was to the evil CGI gremlin.

FULL TIME

90+2 min Good last-ditch defensive work from Jones and Evans who combine to deny Ronaldo a late winner after Modric found him in the six yard box.

90 min It's slipping away from Real now. The stadium's quiet, United look like standing firm, and there's a sense that Real are just as concerned about not conceding as their opponents. Here's some kindness from Paul Hayward:

88 min Valencia is booked for an aerial clash with Ramos. He caught the centre back with his elbow slightly, sure. But Ramos is really good at making a meal of that sort of thing. World class imitation of mortal pain from the boy Sergio.

86 min Ronaldo puts a criminially insane free kick onto the roof of the net from roughly 40 yards. He makes you believe you're watching a videogame with a dubious physics engine at times. De Gea was a mere observer, such was the power and dip, but it was half a foot over the bar.

84 min A sub for both teams. Anderson's on for Rooney, Pepe's on for Alonso.

83 min Excellent stuff from Giggs, who makes it back to c. 2008 with an excellent tackle on Ozil in a dangerous position on the right, then taps the ball past him and draws a foul.

82 min Brief glimpse of goal for Ryan Giggs on the left-hand side of the area. If the year was 1996 he might have hit that first time. As it is, he takes a touch and three Real players crowd him out. Why do you have Rio Ferdinand in your team on occasions like these? Why, for his big bulging eyes and shouting ability, of course!:

79 min Another big save by De Gea! I think Carrick visibly shivers as Ronaldo cuts in off the right and shapes to shoot. Instead he lays it off for Di Maria and the ball's eventually worked to the edge of the box for Khedira, who strikes the bouncing ball into the ground. Deflects mildly off Carrick on its way through to the goal, but De Gea reads it and holds onto the ball! He's had a storming game.

78 min United sitting awful, awful deep now. You can't blame them. Even 2-1 is a great result in this situation, right? Real force another corner, United clear more decisively this time but there's just Valencia upfield to deal with it and he gives it away.

76 min United entirely back in their own half now. It's like they decided that a draw and an away goal will do niely, thanks, after RVP snatched at his chance four minutes ago. Here's Twitter's Johnny Nicholson on a disappointing night from our Wayne:

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: John Nicholson - I wish Rooney was a freckled demon. seems more like a freckled rice pudding today&lt;/noframe&gt;

75 min Di Maria taken off by Madrid. Luka Modric replaces him. Remember him? Welbeck's off for United after struggling with cramp, Valencia's on in his place.

72 min RVP hits the bar! Then somehow contrives to miss when in miles of space in behind Real's defence! Rooney played in Van Persie for the first chance, with Lopez turning his shot onto the bar, but the second one was the one clearly marked GOAL TIME. Alonso plays RVP onside from a looping ball over the Real defence. He brings it down on his chest then horribly mishits the volley. It beats Lopez and heads goalwards but Alonso is able to atone, clearing off the line. A big, surprising miss.

70 min Real getting closer, and it's the wide areas which are giving them joy. Another low ball from the right, Ozil this time, but Higuain is denied by De Gea. Another corner. Another one cleared by United.

67 min Real ramping it up once again after a relatively even first half of the second half. Di Maria accelerates with menace on the left, United clear for a corner. Rooney's guilty of a poor headed clearance but eventually Carrick stoops to get it upfield and Welbeck is fouled by Coentrao in his own half.

65 min A piddling apology of a free kick from Rooney wide on the right, not hit with the height or power necessary to beat the first man. Easily cleared. He's had a poor evening.

64 min Kagawa coming off, walking slightly gingerly. Ryan Giggs is on, a man that has played in every European Cup tournament since its inception at the end of the 19th century. Here's a vague idea of De Gea's close-range save from Coentrao:

62 min Top work from Welbeck, who's oddly looked more of a threat than RVP and Rooney tonight, getting past Ramos and Khedira and into the box. Just too much to do on his own in the end, but he wins a corner which United do little with.

61 min Coentrao! Great save by De Gea! Khedira crossed from left, excellently. Rooney was seemingly having a powernap, allowing Coentrao to reach it close to the far post but De Gea effectively kicked it off the line.

60 min It's the game's first substitution. It's Higuain on for the quiet Benzema. Very well done if any of you got that at home.

59 min Ozil, less influential this half, fails with a delicate dink over the United defence which was aimed towards Ronaldo. De Gea collects it. United better in defence this half. Time for another pertinent statistical tweet from our friends at Opta:

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: OptaJoe - 0 - R Madrid have not drawn a home game vs an English side since Man Utd visited in 2000 (0-0), winning four and losing two since. Patience.&lt;/noframe&gt;

56 min Real out ferociously quickly to break from a United free kick. Rio Ferdinand probably sees his life flash before his eyes as Di Maria and Benzema close him down, last man back on the ball in his own half, but he calmly controls, turns and finds a team-mate. Well done Rio. You are almost as good as the world's best fizzy drink, which shares your name.

54 min Just as Gary Neville notes that Real are playing far further up the pitch in this half Patrice Evra gets himself in behind the last man! Varane's the only Real player close by and appears to pull Evra over! His appeal is waved away. Odd. Replays suggest that Evra went down easy, and certainly knew that his marker would probably be sent off if the foul was awarded, but there was enough of a tug n' clatter from young Frenchman on older Frenchman to merit it being given as a foul.

53 min Excellent shot by Di Maria! Tees himself up with an audacious combination of self-belief and his thigh and hammers a volley from the edge of the box. De Gea's rooted on this occasion but it's safely wide.

52 min Another sighter for Real, Di Maria having a go from a fair distance outside the box. Once again De Gea's equal to it, saving tidily. He's having a good game. He likes Spain, I reckon.

49 min There's so little you can do about Ronaldo in some situations. He receives the ball with his back to goal just outside the box. He's got Carrick and Ferdinand tight to him, but is so quick and aware that he pokes it into space for a shot. Straight at De Gea, thankfully for United. Here he is doing some ridiculous jumping to score the equaliser:

48 min Good start to the half by United who have clearly decided that crosses are their way back into the lead. Welbeck perhaps should be on the end of one after getting the wrong side of Coentrao. Soon afterwards the lurking presence of Kagawa forces Lopez to fist it behind for a corner. It falls for Jones, in space, but his header is well over.

46 min Look, I got Terry and Mike Phelan mixed up. It had to happen one day. I've corrected it now. This never happened. Not that mistake not this liveblog, not this football match, nothing. Oh no, wait. The football match is definitely happening. It's started again with a marvellous kick-off by Manchester United.

20.33 Hard to know how to approach the rest of this game if you're Sir Alex Ferguson. a) Tighten up, preserve the draw, take the away goal home. b) Sit deep, invite pressure, hit Real on the break as they've looked susceptible in wide areas. c) Carry on, prolonging an open game which Real are dominating. Or d) Let Mike Phelan decide and concentrate on which wine you're going to have afterwards with Jose. See you in 15.

HALF TIME

45+2 min Ronaldo very close indeed with a similar chance to the goal. Cross from the left, long ol' hang in the air and a decent header. Wide this time. Slightly mistimed it. And Phil Jones was a better person to be marking him that Patrice Evra.

45+1 min Van Persie on the end of this corner but not in a position to do anything particularly exciting. He heads it back towards Rafael, which definitely doesn't count as exciting. He's rushed into a silly volley which ends up in tier two of 17 at the Bernabeu.

45 min Another corner for United, who have weathered a trying storm in the past 10 minutes. Some more from Paul Hayward:

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Paul Hayward - This game is a fine advert for the curling ball into the box as a weapon of war. Both sides using it to great effect.&lt;/noframe&gt;

Real, certainly, are making United very nervous with this sort of thing. Each of theirs looks on a path through defenders and a surprised De Gea into the bottom corner.

43 min Ronaldo has time to shoot. Note to Manchester United: try not to let this happen. There's a good Premier League leader. Blistering attempt from 25 yards on the right, it's just over.

41 min A combination of persistance and understanding how to defend quite well allow United to clear. Fearsome roar from the home side as Di Maria goes down in the box extremely easily under Jones' challenge. German ref Felix Brych waves it away.

40 min A little too clever from Real, who find spare man Ozil in what is supposed to be Ronaldo's position on the left wing. He should probably shoot but elects to lay it across the six yard box for Benzema. Just behind him, but Rafael nearly gets his team into trouble with a fluffed clearance. Soon afterwards Rafael fouls Ozil wide on the left, is booked, and now United must defend a free kick from the edge of the box, almost on the byline.

38 min Jose's up. He's pointing. He's shouting. Manchester United fans tell him to sit down. Real's do some whistling. Ozil sneaks in behind a dozing United defence to latch onto a long Alonso pass. He brings it down beautifully and targets the bottom corner. Safety first again for De Gea, who gives away another corner. Here's Danny Welbeck celebrating the opening goal:

36 min Two more United corners in quick succession, neither comes to much, Rooney heading wide from the second.

35 min Corner ends up with Rooney who is able to carve out a shooting chance in traffic in the box but sends it marginally wide.

34 min There's a chance for United! RVP pulls away from Arbeloa on the left and fizzes a cross in. Kagawa wafts a foot at it but Lopez has closed him down and gets a crucial touch to send it behind for a corner.

33 min Despite their goal there's something concerningly hapless about United so far here. Rooney's barely been in the game, Kagawa has failed to impose himself and Jones and Carrick, not for a lack of effort, are doing little to stem the tide in the middle.

30 min GOAL!! Real Madrid 1 Man United 1 (Ronaldo) Too easy for Real, but a stupendous header from Ronaldo. He has swapped wings with Di Maria, and the latter is allowed time and space to cross from deep on left. Evra's left with the job of marking Ronaldo at the far post which is never a fair fight, even less when the Frenchman appears to stumble at the crucial moment. But Ronaldo's leap is a thing to behold. I'm not distance-judging expert, but I reckon he's leapt around 87 metres into the air there, and stayed there for a full 14 seconds. No chance De Gea, and United's lead lasted not very long at all.

29 min Well done to Robin Van Persie, who took that free kick directly in the plums after jumping at the end of the wall. It falls back to Ronaldo whose ludicrously fast volley beats the wall but whistles just wide of the post.

28 min Real have a free kick in danger range, roughly 28 yards out just to the left of centre. Jones and Carrick took turns at kicking Ronaldo to give it away. Excellent facial expressions all round here, Sergio Ramos especially:

26 min Not an inspiring moment from De Gea, who comes to claim the latest Real corner but seems to lose heart at the last and can only waft it away to the other side of the pitch. Real looking keen to cross whenever possible here. I wonder why....

25 min United yet to experience anything like a period of dominance in this game, but Real are rattled. Odd to be able to hear away supporters so clearly inside the Bernabeu and there's a worried franticness to their team's play. Some more local colour from Paul Hayward:

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Paul Hayward - The frantic crunching of seeds and nuts by Real Madrid fans behind me in the press overspill area says they're just as nervous as Utd's lot.&lt;/noframe&gt;

22 min First sighting of the lesser-spotted Cristiano Ronaldo stepovers. He unleashes a few on Rafael wide on the left, and Jones joins him to help snub out the danger. Soon after De Gea doesn't risk being beaten down low by Di Maria from 25 yards and turns it round the post for a corner. Was probably going wide anyway but never mind, the corner comes to nothing.

20 min GOAL!! Real Madrid 0 Man United 1 (Welbeck) A corner! A header from a corner! A triumph for English football! Nothing complicated about that. An excellently-delivered corner from Rooney (definitely a new entry to my personal top 20), Welbeck barges away from the attentions of Ramos and gets the minor nick on the ball which is it all it needed to fly past the stranded Lopez. Wahey! Away goal!

19 min United seem so concerned with stopping Ronaldo, who hasn't been on the ball too much so far, that they're forgetting Real have a team full of players who can make you very sad indeed. Ozil trots forward on the ball in the style of his more handsomely-sponsored team-mate. He's not well-tracked enough and is able to shoot but it's blocked. Here's what has to go down as an excellent save by David De Gea. Largely because that's exactly what it was:

17 min Now then. Jonny Evans has fallen to the floor, clutching his head after an aerial tussle with Ramos. He's up quickly enough, which makes me think he's just giving Ramos a taste of his own "I'm injured, me!" shenanigans which got RVP booked. Replays suggest Ramos landed a disguised blow on the back of Evans' head, with the officials unsighted. What a devil.

16 min A Real corner is as effective at United's previously. Which is to say not at all. You'll be pleased to hear that Rafael isn't marking CRon on corners. Phil Jones has that honour.

14 min Some signs of improvement from United in defence. Evra tracks Di Maria doggedly, wins the ball and is then fouled. Here's Finbarr Saunders, sorry, that's Marc Melander:

I doubt that this game is in danger of being a recently moistened firework, but imagine the potential of each side being forced to replace a player with a celebrity of the same surname. Jennifer Lopez would be in nets for the Spanishers (not fishnets but that's definitely an image to conjure with) and United would have to replace the hapless Johnny Evans with the freely-perspiring Lee. The latter probably has more stamina but would have to pulled off (stop it Thom) after 70 minutes. On a more serious note I'm going 3-1 for Real with Ozil and Benzema providing sorcery on a grand scale.

11 min For those of you watching without the aid of a homemade formations cheat sheet, here's Paul Hayward direct from Madrid:

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Paul Hayward - Rooney playing right side, on Ronaldo's flank, so the duel between these two former partners in crime is going to be eventful.&lt;/noframe&gt;

I'll add to this by telling you that it's Kagawa playing centrally off RVP and a combination of Jones and Carrick desparately trying to help Rafael deal with Ronaldo. It's not working so far. Di Maria and The Hairgelled One cut United open again with a simple one-two, but Real can't find a final ball and United get it clear.

9 min It's not the best-delivered corner you've ever seen. I'd struggle to name the best-delivered corner I've ever seen, frankly, but I'm ruling that out. Right onto a Real head and Rafael can only head it gently back towards keeper Lopez's territory.

8 min This has been nothing like good enough so far for United, but they will be cheered now as a Varane error donates a corner to their cause.

6 min Real hit the post! Ferdinand's stumbling clearance falls right at Coentrao's feet and he whips a curling shot towards the far bottom corner. De Gea gets a thin slice of his fingers on it and diverts it onto the post! So close. Something of a let off.

5 min RVP is booked cheaply after sticking his hand into Ramos' face. The centre back did a gigantic continental performance piece, going down as if elbowed. It didn't help.

4 min Di María not far away at all after breezing past Carrick 30 yards out. His shot is wide, again, but United must tighten up in and around their area.

2 min Khedira snatches somewhat at a shot from just inside the box. United cut apart worryingly easily, worryingly early, there. Khedira was found in plenty of space but screwed the shot well wide. Rafael sliding in was probably something of a distraction.

1 min Madrid get us started, as I predicted they would at half past three this afternoon. I'm saying 1-1 draw, by the way. It's not too late to join my glory train to correct-predicting glory.

19.43 I think Patrice Evra just won the toss. FIRST BLOOD TO UNITED!

19.41 Champions League theme time. As ever, both teams fail to sing along. I've said it for years, this competition needs more Jimmy Bullard.

19.39 The teams are in the tunnel. Well, United are. Wearing a solemn black warm-up number. Real are keeping them waiting. There's some opera playing. I'd prefer Meat Loaf, personally.

19.32 Here are the pre-match thoughts of Alex Ferguson:

We've retained the discipline that can help us win the match. We've got attacking players, but the roles of Michael Carrick and Phil Jones in the middle will be crucial. I couldn't risk Nemanja, with only three days since our last game. These are the nights you dream about. Tonight it's two of the biggest clubs in the world, there's 200 million people watching it on television. You've got to look forward to it, but there'll be a bit of nervousness inside me.

19.30 An email from your friend and mine. Marc Melander:

Who is the large cove next to Rio 'not so grand' Ferdinand in the picture of 16.30? I can't help but notice that he's having a cheeky game of pocket billiards. How rude.

19.25 Paul Hayward is another member of Team Telegraph Sport at the Bernabeu this evening:

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Paul Hayward - Biggest test of Phil Jones' career. Best position unknown (probably centre-back). We'll see how clever he is in deep midfield v Ronaldo.&lt;/noframe&gt;

19.20 Wayne Rooney's not exactly brimming with excitement tonight. Here he is arriving:

He looked pretty miffed in the warm-up too. Focussed, or FURIOUS? The latter, hopefully. There's nothing quite like seeing Wayne Rooney have a gigantic meltdown.

19.15 Astute future-predicting from the boy Jonathan Liew:

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Jonathan Liew - My prediction: people will watch highlights of this match in years to come and think: "Oh yeah, Welbeck played in this one"&lt;/noframe&gt;

19.05 This evening's retro highlights are brought to you, extremely predictably, by the year 2003:

18.56 Here's confirmation of the full teams, plus subs, and the name and nationality of the referee. Which is absolutely crucial, I'm sure you'll agree:

18.50 So the young French centre back Raphael Varane starts, as expected, for Real which means fit-again Pepe has been overlooked. Quite the test for him this evening. Much the same for Jonny Evans and Phil Jones. You feel one of them will foul up royally, don't you?

18.36 Sky run a teaser of their interview with CRonaldo himself. He's whingeing about "the people" who "don't know me" with what sounds like a John Williams composition being played on the world's smallest violin. Poor, poor Cristiano.

18.30 I'm happy to tell you that the players have arrived at the ground. Cristiano Ronaldo seemed to be having a right laugh with Nemanja Vidic. Ronaldo was wearing an Atlanta Braves cap. Perhaps Nemanja was ribbing him about their Wild Card game defeat to the St Louis Cardinals last season? Perhaps not.

You too can experience your own Bernabeu power ballad pre-match build-up! RIGHT NOW:

18.15 Just the 90 minutes til kick-off now and I'm delighted to say that Sky Sports has now joined me in getting Really Quite Excited about this football match. Gary Neville's having a whale of a time playing with his giant iPad and explaining at length that Cristiano Ronaldo is quite good.

18.00 If you'd like to play a Bingo sub-game while this evening's match is taking place then that is a thing you can do. Yes, it's....

16.45 ...meanwhile Real Madrid have been concentrating on making Cristiano Ronaldo feel good, as they must do, every hour of every day until he accepts a large amount of money to play football in front of some Qataris. Here he is being given some ridiculously spurious prize for something as silly as being one of the 10 players to score the most goals for Real Madrid or SOMETHING:

16.30 United have spent their day doing that thing where they walk around the city they're in and try to pretend they wouldn't rather be back home in climate-controlled Alderley Edge with their comprehensively-insured feet up in front of the 200" Sony Bravia. Half marks to Rio who manages a fairly convincing smile, but is rather undermined by failing to remove his headphones:

16.15 It's about time for the first pertinent statistical tweet of the evening, from our friends at Opta:

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: OptaJoe - 6 - Real Madrid have scored more goals from outside the box than any other team in the CL this season. Scorchers.&lt;/noframe&gt;

Who’s the daddy? Not Mourinho. Not any more. The last time he was knocked around by uncontrollable forces like this was at Chelsea, when the oligarchical thumb of Roman Abramovich turned downwards and the hero of the Shed was fired. Mourinho left Stamford Bridge with his dignity intact and moved on to great things, with Inter Milan and Real. But no longer is he the master of his own story. The drums at the Bernabéu beat out a consistent message. If Real are knocked out of the Champions League by Manchester United then Mourinho’s enemies in the dressing room will have their wish. His brilliant career has been an exercise in power. But his urge to control great institutions has a growing whiff of Don Quixote.

15.45 Forgotten what Cristiano Ronaldo looks like when he's playing football? It's alright, it's been a while since he was at United and not everyone can be bothered to watch La Liga. Here's a handy slideshow to refresh your memory:

We might not have a winter break yet in British football (despite the best efforts of several hundred thousand always-interesting words on the subject every season) but there is a clear dividing line in each campaign, beyond which things start to get properly exciting.

We cross that line, south of the border at least, tonight.

It's the Champions League knockout stage! A time when football becomes a succession of fixtures akin to those played by unadventurous Fifa 13 fans.

Tough one to call this evening. Jose Mourinho has generally got the better of Alex Ferguson, but it's questionable how a team playing quite so within themselves in La Liga can turn it on when necessary against a top-tier club like United.

Recent evidence would suggest Real are on a different plane to the Premier League leaders, but if world's second-favourite three-letter acronym RVP* can maintain his excellent form and Nemanja Vidic can continue to re-assure what's been an uncertain defence for much of the season then maybe... just maybe... A lovely 1-1 draw?

One thing's for sure, if either team loses their manager is going to behave very childishly. That's surely what we've all come here to see this evening, and I invite you to share with me your tales of adult tantrums as we while away the time before kick off.

There is, as I'm sure you've noticed, quite some time to go until Mesut Ozil taps a ball forward to Karim Benzema, but there's plenty to keep us occupied until then.

Here's a piece of a number of people's minds on our dear website to whet your appetite: